Terry Goddard Testifies on Border Violence before U.S. Senate Hearing

(Phoenix, Ariz. – March 17, 2009) Attorney General Terry Goddard testified today before a joint session of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Crime and Drugs and the Senate Caucus on International Narcotics Control on Tuesday.

Goddard discussed the public safety threat to Arizona posed by cross-border smuggling of narcotics, human cargo and weapons. He also described successful law enforcement techniques employed to combat the cartels, including the seizure of smuggling proceeds sent by wire transfer, a strategy pioneered in Arizona to disable criminal smuggling syndicates.

Other panelists at the hearing included representatives from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Drug Enforcement Administration and Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Goddard’s testimony is attached and available on the Attorney General’s Web site, www.azag.gov. Testimony from all of the panelists at today’s hearing is available on the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Web site, http://judiciary.senate.gov/.